Oscar Piastri wins Spanish GP as Max Verstappen gets penalized
What's the story
Oscar Piastri of McLaren has won the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, his fifth victory of the season.
The race was marred by a late safety car and several incidents involving Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes's George Russell.
Despite a strong three-stop strategy, Verstappen's race took a turn for the worse when he was forced to switch to hard tires due to unavailability of softer ones after Kimi Antonelli's engine failure.
Race challenges
Verstappen's tire strategy and subsequent incidents
Verstappen's tire strategy made him lose grip at the restart, leading to a series of dramatic incidents.
He nearly lost control coming out of the final corner as the race restarted with five laps to go.
Scuderia Ferrari's Charles Leclerc attempted an overtake on Verstappen, resulting in contact between their cars as Leclerc returned to the racing line while still alongside Verstappen.
Collision aftermath
Russell's overtake and Verstappen's penalty
Russell then tried to overtake Verstappen at Turn One, leading to another collision.
Despite Verstappen claiming that Russell pushed him off, his engineer Giampiero Lambiase instructed him to give the position back as per racing rules.
On the entry to Turn Four with two laps remaining, it seemed like Verstappen was letting Russell pass on the outside but suddenly turned into him, resulting in a collision and a 10-second penalty for Verstappen.
Team triumph
Piastri's victory and McLaren's dominance
Piastri's win at the Spanish Grand Prix marks another successful outing for McLaren, who have been dominating this season. The team now has an even stronger grip on the Constructors' Championship standings.
Despite a challenging race with several incidents, Piastri managed to maintain his lead and secure the victory, further cementing his position at the top of the drivers' standings.
Duo
8th podium each this season for McLaren duo
Norris claimed his 8th podium finish in 2025 F1 season out of 9 races (3 wins).
He won the season-opening Australian GP before taking 2nd places at the Chinese and Japanese GP. He finished 3rd in Bahrain, 4th in Saudi Arabia and two successive 2nd-place finishes thereafter before winning in Monaco.
Norris now owns 34 career podium finishes. Notably, Norris claimed 13 podium finishes for McLaren in 2024, finishing 2nd overall behind Verstappen.
On the other hand, Piastri also took his 8th podium finish this season. He owns 5 race wins this season.
Information
Leclerc claims his 46th career podium
Leclerc claimed his 46th career podium finish after finishing 3rd in Spain. Leclerc, who has won 8 career F1 races, clocked his 3rd podium finish of the season.
Drivers
A look at the Driver Standings
Piastri leads the 2025 Driver Standings with 186 points from nine races.
He is followed by Norris, who has 176 points.
Verstappen owns 137 points and is now far behind the McLaren duo.
Mercedes' George Russell is next with 111 points on board. Scuderia Ferrari's Leclerc is placed fifth (94 points) with Hamilton on 6th (71 points).
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McLaren top the Team Standings
Champions McLaren top the Team Standings with 362 points after 9 races. Ferrari are 2nd with 165 points and surpassed Mercedes, who own 159 points. Red Bull are 4th with 144 points.